


Courtship in the Kingdom of Nintality

by guava



Category: Super Sentai Series, 手裏剣戦隊ニンニンジャー | Shuriken Sentai Ninninger
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Crack, Multi, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-28
Packaged: 2018-03-26 06:05:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/guava/pseuds/guava
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Under the orders of King Yoshitaka, Mage Yakumo and astronomy scholar Kasumi have to find the newly arrived Sir Takaharu a suitable wife. The initially apathetic Kasumi becomes intrigued when Yakumo is against her putting herself forth as a possible candidate for the knight's wife. </p><p>Inspired by the summary of Lynsay Sand's "Knight of My Dreams", in which Kasumi is the lady, Takaharu is the knight and Yakumo takes the place of the disapproving mother as the disapproving friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courtship in the Kingdom of Nintality

**Author's Note:**

> In this fanfic, the Ninningers (except for Takaharu and Fuuka) are not related and so I didn't use the incest tag. As you read this fic, you may find yourself asking, 'If the Last Ninja is King and the Ninningers are unrelated to him, then who's the royal family of Nintality?' The answer is...I did not think this through! Nonetheless, hope you enjoy this one-shot of crack :)

Upon arriving at the docks to send King Yoshitaka off on his journey, Yakumo and Kasumi received new orders from the King. According to his majesty, a distinguished knight had arrived at the Kingdom of Nintality to make himself a name at the royal court. Same old, same old. What’s new was that the King appointed Yakumo and Kasumi, his trusted courtiers, to help said knight to choose a good wife out of all the single ladies in Nintality.

“In the near future, Sir Takaharu will be the tip of Nintality’s blade,” the King said. “What we need to ensure his loyalty to the kingdom is to provide him with a home and family he can return to. _Grazie_ , _ciao_!”

With that, he boarded his ship and set sail with his fleet to Italy, leaving Yakumo and Kasumi to their own devices.

“I bet this newcomer is not the settling down type,” Kasumi said as they watched the royal fleet sail into the distance. “If not, his majesty wouldn’t need our assistance. We’ll probably need to persuade Sir Takaharu to marry first.”

“If he has a promising future in the kingdom’s politics as his majesty says, finding him a marriage partner should be easy,” Yakumo replied. “Just leave this to me.”

Kasumi shrugged, signalling, ‘All right, if you say so.’ As usual, she had her important astronomical research to attend to. Besides, unlike Yakumo who made sure to fulfill his courtly obligations to socialize, Kasumi’s research took up most of her days and nights and gave her limited opportunities to know as many ladies of Nintality as Yakumo did.

Thus, she put the King’s orders on hold and continued to concentrate on her work. It was in the midst of working when she caught sight of the new knight from afar.

She was re-reading old texts in her study when she heard cries of help from outside. She looked out of the window and confirmed that no one was in mortal peril. It was only Nagi, one of the cook’s assistants, being chased by one of the King’s dogs around the palace’s garden. He had probably emerged from the kitchen smelling of smoke meat and made himself an enticing target for the hound.

Kasumi was about to reassure Nagi from where she was that the dog would most likely just lick him a lot and not chew on his flesh when the dog leapt to pounce on Nagi. Nagi yelped and this summoned his rescuer, a red blur that pounced back on the dog. Man and dog rolled around the grass for a while, looking to Kasumi like a close fight between prey and predator. Yet when they stopped, Kasumi saw the dog licking the man’s face and the man kissing the dog in between licks. It occurred to her that what seemed to be primal violence was actually play fighting, a gesture of making friends.

As the knight rose to his feet, Nagi began thanking him while keeping his distance away from the dog that had sidled against the knight’s shins. Kasumi studied the red armour that the knight had on and she remembered Yakumo’s off-hand remark that Sir Takaharu liked to stand out from the rest.

It was time for her to get down and investigate who stood out for him.

* * *

Kasumi could handle lugging around tombs of reference books around the palace, thank you very much. Because Takaharu was new, he offered to help as they bumped into each other at the bottom of the stairwell. Kasumi dropped her stack into his arms. Might as well confirm that this knight was a gentleman as they socialize.

“I heard that Mage Yakumo has been helping you to find a wife,” Kasumi said as they climbed the stairs. “How’s your progress on that?”

“To be honest, I’d rather find a dog for now,” Takaharu said, cradling the books to his chest as if they were a sleeping baby.

‘This man has potential,’ Kasumi thought.

“I have a dog back in my home village,” Takaharu continued. “My sister and I raised it since we were little. She’ll like it if I bring our dog a new friend from here.”

“Wow, Sir Takaharu, you don’t sound like a people person very much,” Kasumi said approvingly. “I’d like to get to know you.”

“Sure,” Takaharu replied. “We can even hang out with Mage Yakumo one day—oh, there he is!”

Speak of the devil, Yakumo just happened to be standing at the top of the stairs with arms crossed and staring down at them. Kasumi was familiar enough with the imperceptible shifts of Yakumo’s expression to discern the annoyance that he had suppressed.

“Good afternoon, Mage!” Takaharu greeted.

He returned Kasumi her stack of books to raise his hand in a salute, only for Yakumo to grab his hand and drag him back down the stairs. Kasumi backed herself against the wall to allow them to pass through.

“I’ve told you this before,” she heard Yakumo say as the men continued their descent, “ _she’s_ off-limits.”

Kasumi couldn’t hear Takaharu’s reply to that. Well, never mind. She was bound to hear more about this from Yakumo sooner than later.

* * *

That very night, Kasumi was doing maintenance on her telescope when Yakumo came in. She was expecting him. He didn’t announce his presence as he took out his magic wand to cast a spell. Lines of blue glowing runes appeared on the walls for a split second and disappearing to introduce warmth into the room.

“You’re usually suspicious of knights who try to serve you,” Yakumo started.

“And is that why you think I’d make an unsuitable wife?” Kasumi asked, putting down her tools and standing up to address Yakumo directly.

She didn’t really think that he thought that, but tossing out possible interpretations was one of the ways to provoke him to speak the truth. He averted his eyes away from her and looked out the window.

“I think the opposite,” Yakumo said. “He would make an unsuitable husband for you.”

“Exactly what kind of person do you think is suitable for him?” Kasumi asked.

Yakumo faced her again, shifting his gaze around the room and visibly excising words he shouldn’t say from his mind. He eventually decided on, “I doubt you would understand.”

And then he left, leaving Kasumi with only that non-answer to consider.

* * *

The real answer was ultimately revealed in a roundabout way, as these things tend to go with Yakumo. Kasumi was still mulling over what was going on in his head for a couple of days, when in the middle of the afternoon, she received a knock on her study’s door. She answered it to find to find Nagi before her, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

“Lady Kasumi, you’re still here!?” Nagi said in disbelief. “The duel between Mage Yakumo and Sir Takaharu is about to begin!”

“I definitely can’t miss that!” Kasumi replied.

She exited her study to follow Nagi to the field where the duel was to be held, betraying no signs that she didn’t know when and how this duel was arranged. Rarely were mages involved in duels, especially one like Yakumo who was adverse to direct confrontations. It was thus natural that Kasumi found the stands already filled with lords and ladies; the lords setting down their bets on the victors and the ladies trading speculations on the context behind the duel.

As Kasumi left Nagi to sit with the other kitchen assistants, she spotted Takaharu adjusting his armour across the field and strode over to him. He was about to put on his helmet when he paused to smile and greet her.

“I can’t believe that my first duel in Nintality is with a mage! I’m getting fired up!” He exclaimed, then undermined his own enthusiasm as a worrying thought crossed his mind. “Wait, I shouldn’t jinx myself. My opponent this time could actually set me on fire.”

“Yakumo isn’t the physically violent type,” Kasumi reassured him. “Still, you’ll be kept busy with trying to land your blows. I’ll give you a charm for good luck.”

She took out a handkerchief from her dress’ pocket and tied it around his arm.

“Thanks, Kasumi,” Takaharu said.

He gently held her wrist to kiss the back of her hand before wearing his helmet and stepping forwards to face the crowd. That was standard chivalrous behaviour, yet when Kasumi turned around, she found Yakumo staring at her as if she had done something more scandalous.

“You barely know him,” Yakumo pointed out.

“Oh, do you want a favour as well?” She pulled out another handkerchief from her pocket and advanced towards him to wave it against his face. “Go on, go back to your side of the field.”

As he turned away from her flapping handkerchief, she went away to take her seat at the front row of the stands. Soon, both Takaharu and Yakumo appeared under the sunlight at opposite ends of the field. A royal guard blew on his trumpet and the duel officially began.

Yakumo raised his wand and casted a spell. Kasumi waited for the ground to tremble and runes to appear, but none did. Instead, a gust of glowing golden wind blew and wrapped around Yakumo, dissipating to reveal his transformation into a blue hawk. Yakumo swooped towards Takaharu in his bird form and as Takaharu bent backwards, Yakumo transformed again into a large blue panther and landed on top of Takaharu.

Takaharu growled into Yakumo’s panther face and threw aside his sword to free himself from Yakumo’s claws. The spectacle of the pseudo-man versus beast fight stirred the crowd’s blood, who lacked such entertainment ever since the King banned the practice of pitting humans against animals.  As the spectators cheered, clapped and contributed their own animalistic noises, Kasumi rewound Yakumo’s unsubtle battle stratagem in her head and thought, ‘Well, well.’

Since Yakumo did not have much experience in close contact fights, it was only a matter of time until Takaharu overpowered him with his body. Like someone used to fending off wild animals, Takaharu flipped them over with practiced motions. Yakumo lost hold of his magic and turned back into his original self as his head hit the ground. As he looked up at the stands, Kasumi shot him a suggestive smile complemented with a more suggestive wink.

His horrified expression made it seem like _she_ was the one he was losing against.

* * *

 Once he was inside and closed the door of Kasumi’s study, Yakumo launched into his defense. “I let Sir Takaharu win,” he said, “to make him more attractive to the ladies.”

‘Did you now?’ Kasumi thought, but didn’t bother saying it aloud. Instead, she said, “Yakumo, there’s no reason why _you_ wouldn't make a good wife for him. His majesty didn't say anything about making sure that he produce good heirs for the future of Nintality.”

“It’s implicit, Kasumi,” Yakumo said. “The King made us Takaharu’s matchmakers so we wouldn’t offer ourselves as candidates. His majesty may deem Takaharu important to Nintality’s future, but that doesn’t mean  he doesn’t fear Takaharu getting too powerful through intimate relations with other courtiers.”

He crossed his arms and leaned back against Kasumi’s bookcase, confident that that was all there was to say about the matter. Kasumi would have to correct him on that. This was why she was uninclined towards participating in court—one’s perspective becomes dominated by the world of politics without considering the forces of the larger world.

“You’ve forgotten that there’s still at least half a year before the King returns,” Kasumi said. “That gives us both half a year to court Sir Takaharu.”

“What,” Yakumo’s eyes widened, “But what about finding him a wife?”

“This is the new Nin era,” Kasumi reminded him. “No one bothers hiding the reality that courtship doesn’t need to lead to marriage.”

She kissed him to emphasize her point. As she pressed her hand against his neck to support his jaw, she felt him inhale a long breath. He relaxed at his exhale, sending warm air against her lips and unfolded his arms to wind them around her waist as he kissed her back. Their kisses became wetter and she ended up pushing him too hard against the bookcase, causing it to shake. She pulled away and moved her hand on his neck to thump against the spines of a couple of her encyclopedias, keeping them from falling to the floor.

“Is that how you’re going to kiss him” Yakumo asked in a hushed voice.

“I hope I’ll inspire you to kiss the same,” Kasumi said.

* * *

The first thing all three of them did together was to convince Yakumo to turn Takaharu into a dog. He reluctantly did so out in the palace’s garden at a spot where Kasumi first saw Takaharu out of her study’s window. With a wave of Yakumo’s wand, Takaharu turned into a large Labrador and his shiny red armor turned into soft fur. Yakumo and Kasumi watched as Takaharu in Labrador form tried to chase his own tail until Takaharu came over to raise his paws onto Yakumo’s thighs.

Yakumo hurriedly flicked his wand and Takaharu changed back into a man squatting at his feet.

“Magic is pretty hot, Mage Yakumo!” Takaharu exclaimed, looking up at him. “I fought off an army once with men who can turn into dogs. Under the moonlight, I was with King Yoshitaka when—”

“I’ll just read it in the history books,” Yakumo said, cutting him short by turning him into a dog again.

Kasumi laughed. One thing Yakumo couldn’t stand was knights boasting about their knightly deeds. This was rivaled by his dislike for dogs slobbering all over him, which was bound to happen soon as Labrador Takaharu advanced upon him. As Yakumo backed away, Kasumi noticed him gripping his wand a little tighter.

‘Oh no,’ Kasumi thought. ‘You’re not getting away this time.’

With perfect timing, she snuck behind him and snatched Yakumo’s wand away right when Takaharu barrelled into him.

‘Help,’ he emoted on the ground before Takaharu tried to lick his frown off his face. All Kasumi did is bend down to poke his side with his magic stick. If only she could magick his grumpiness away!


End file.
